Mediated Orality: The Role of Popular Music in the Changing Tradition of Children's Musical Play

Abstract

Children's musical play traditions are frequently perceived to be threatened by the influences of the media and popular music. This article maintains that mediated popular music forms a part of the oral transmission process which characterises children's musical play. Specific reference is made to children's playground singing games in which children's creative manipulation of material derived from popular music forms is discussed. Such uses are seen to empower children and to reinforce play traditions, rather than dissipate them.

Drawing Back the Lens on Play: A Frame Analysis of Young Children's Play in Puerto Rico

“…The type of music play found in the present investigation has been observed by previous researchers among children and adults in other Caribbean cultures and has been analyzed as a reflection of the collective orientation and oral storytelling traditions of these groups (Barrett, 2006;Campbell, 1998;Hebridge, 1987;Idolor, 2007;Marsh, 1999). Interviews with teachers in the present study confirm that this type of play reflects the important cultural meaning of music for children in Puerto Rico.…”

“…A few studies have focused on the impact of "musico-communicative interactions"-spontaneous, informal music-making with peers (Barrett, 2006;Campbell, 1998;Marsh, 1999). Findings suggest that such interactions can enhance musical expression, song making, composition, musical notation, and the overall quality of children's pretend play.…”

Multicultural and popular music content in an American music teacher education program

“…Britton (1961) wrote eloquently about the gulf between school-based and other musical worlds: '… music education, although created and nurtured by a popular love of music, has nevertheless always operated at a certain distance from the well-springs of American musical life, both popular and artistic' (p. 215). For more recent writings on Australia and Sweden, see Marsh (1999) and Stalhåmmar (1999), respectively. 4.…”

Bana etlong retlobapala : examining children's musical games on a Soweto playground

“…This method echoes those used in the South African popular music that children reference in their games: 'processes of recognition, appropriation, manipulating and employing resources sourced from a range of contexts' are typical traits of South African popular music genres (Allen 2005:31). The 'overlapping processes of appropriation and creation' in musical games and popular music is another common characteristic of musical play (Marsh 1999(Marsh , 2006.…”

“…Although there are many characteristics that township children's games share with musical games globally, including the close link between musical and social proficiency and co-operative versus competitive learning in girls' and boys' games respectively, I focus on children's appropriation of media, popular music and dance texts for integration into existing musical games (see Harwood 1994;Marsh 1999Marsh , 2001Marsh , 2006Marsh , 2008Bishop & Burn 2013), which is significant for understanding children's method of multimodal musical design. The 'Barbie girl' medley epitomises how children integrate elements from disparate sources in their games.…”